Artificial intelligence (AI) can feed people’s private data from different sources — not just online and offline databases but also content that users upload to the web, sensor data from the Internet of Things, and even the digital footprint users leave behind as they use their digital devices. Protecting the rights that individuals have as to what information is collected, where it is stored, who can use it, and for what purpose has always been difficult. And in the future, AI will make that exceedingly complex. 

In this article, we explore how AI raises the issue of data privacy and data ownership to a new level of importance, complexity and controversy.